The Pittsburgh Penguins search for a new general manager continues on and while the list of candidates is pretty well known at this point, but figuring out who has the edge for the job is tricky.

There’s not a lot of talk coming out of Pittsburgh about the direction things are headed as Penguins brass including Mario Lemieux, Joe Burkel, and David Morehouse are keeping mum.

All that means is there’s plenty of speculation to go around. Hall of Fame writer Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has about as much credibility as anyone regarding the team and he ranked the top five candidates for the position.

“Sometimes, the best answer is the most obvious one, and that might well be the case here. Botterill was Shero’s assistant and has handled every conceivable duty, from negotiating contracts to evaluating free agents, during five seasons in that role. He is regarded as one of the top young front-office talents in the league, and it’s a given that he will be a general manager sometime soon. There appears to be no good reason that it shouldn’t happen now. Here.”

The common thread with that group is none of them have been in the top GM position before. All five are or have been assistant GMs. Pittsburgh looking for some new blood at the executive ranks may seem like a curious move, but a fresh set of eyes can do a lot of good.

With the lockout (just about) in the hockey world’s rear-view mirror, there are two activities many are taking part in right now: assessing the tentative CBA deal itself and rolling out their predictions.

NBC Sports Talk is really starting to kick such fun into gear. Pierre McGuire was on hand on Monday to share his own observations, beginning with his thoughts regarding how important the 50/50 revenue split is:

NBC’s NHL insider Pierre McGuire talks with Erik Kuselias of NBC Sports Talk to find out if the NHL’s meeting with the NHLPA on Friday means there’s hope for the lockout to end without missing any games.

PHT’s Morning Skate takes a look around the world of hockey to see what’s happening and what we’ll be talking about around the NHL world and beyond.

Did you think Dustin Penner would score the series-clinching overtime goal last night? With how he’s bounced back in the playoffs maybe you should have. (NHL.com)

Things were bad on the ice for the Coyotes but they were better for them off it as the City of Glendale approved a city budget that would help them fix their lease for Greg Jamison to buy the team. (The Hockey News)

Meanwhile, David Shoalts doesn’t see things being quite so rosy with the team and its possible deal. (The Globe And Mail)

Devils players were pretty happy with Peter DeBoer yelling at John Tortorella. Who doesn’t like seeing coach get fired up? (Fire & Ice)

Know who had the best view of the coaches going at it? Pierre McGuire and he shared what it was like. (New York Times)

Nathan Horton is showing progress with his concussion symptoms and that’s great news. (CSNNE.com)

Jaroslav Spacek has nothing but nice things to say about playing in Montreal. (Montreal Gazette)

Hurricanes goalie Michael Murphy is taking his game to Russia and the KHL. (News & Observer)

Scouts have their work cut out for them analyzing this year’s draft class thanks to injuries. (Flames)

The Norfolk Admirals (Lightning) swept the St. John’s IceCaps (Jets) to book their spot in the Calder Cup finals. (Sportsnet)

McGuire was a GM in the early 90s with the Hartford Whalers but has since become a major personality on TV as an analyst. On CJAD radio out of Canada, McGuire confirmed to Sports Illustrated’s Michael Farber he was the runner-up for the Canadiens job. McGuire was also in the running for the job with Lightning assistant GM Julien Brisebois. Brisebois confirmed to RDS’ Renaud Lavoie that he also was turned down for the job.

McGuire’s been close to landing GM jobs in the past, but this opportunity with Montreal was the closest he’s come in years. While we’re more than happy to have McGuire stay on TV and fill us with information during broadcasts, you have to feel for him because he’s come so close to landing a GM job just to fall short.